diff --git a/src/thread.c b/src/thread.c
index 754d286e9f..e2d16df7cb 100644
--- a/src/thread.c
+++ b/src/thread.c
@@ -681,7 +681,7 @@ invoke_thread_function (void)
 {
   ptrdiff_t count = SPECPDL_INDEX ();
 
-  Ffuncall (1, &current_thread->function);
+  current_thread->result = Ffuncall (1, &current_thread->function);
   return unbind_to (count, Qnil);
 }
 
@@ -789,6 +789,7 @@ If NAME is given, it must be a string; it names the new thread.  */)
   new_thread->m_last_thing_searched = Qnil; /* copy from parent? */
   new_thread->m_saved_last_thing_searched = Qnil;
   new_thread->m_current_buffer = current_thread->m_current_buffer;
+  new_thread->result = Qnil;
   new_thread->error_symbol = Qnil;
   new_thread->error_data = Qnil;
   new_thread->event_object = Qnil;
@@ -933,9 +934,9 @@ thread_join_callback (void *arg)
 
 DEFUN ("thread-join", Fthread_join, Sthread_join, 1, 1, 0,
        doc: /* Wait for THREAD to exit.
-This blocks the current thread until THREAD exits or until
-the current thread is signaled.
-It is an error for a thread to try to join itself.  */)
+This blocks the current thread until THREAD exits or until the current
+thread is signaled.  It returns the result of the THREAD function.  It
+is an error for a thread to try to join itself.  */)
   (Lisp_Object thread)
 {
   struct thread_state *tstate;
@@ -949,7 +950,7 @@ It is an error for a thread to try to join itself.  */)
   if (thread_alive_p (tstate))
     flush_stack_call_func (thread_join_callback, tstate);
 
-  return Qnil;
+  return tstate->result;
 }
 
 DEFUN ("all-threads", Fall_threads, Sall_threads, 0, 0, 0,
@@ -1017,6 +1018,7 @@ init_main_thread (void)
   main_thread.m_saved_last_thing_searched = Qnil;
   main_thread.name = Qnil;
   main_thread.function = Qnil;
+  main_thread.result = Qnil;
   main_thread.error_symbol = Qnil;
   main_thread.error_data = Qnil;
   main_thread.event_object = Qnil;
@@ -1090,8 +1092,7 @@ syms_of_threads (void)
   DEFSYM (Qmutexp, "mutexp");
   DEFSYM (Qcondition_variable_p, "condition-variable-p");
 
-  DEFVAR_LISP ("main-thread",
-	       Vmain_thread,
+  DEFVAR_LISP ("main-thread", Vmain_thread,
     doc: /* The main thread of Emacs.  */);
 #ifdef THREADS_ENABLED
   XSETTHREAD (Vmain_thread, &main_thread);
diff --git a/src/thread.h b/src/thread.h
index c10e5ecb75..922eea6217 100644
--- a/src/thread.h
+++ b/src/thread.h
@@ -52,6 +52,9 @@ struct thread_state
   /* The thread's function.  */
   Lisp_Object function;
 
+  /* The thread's result, if function has finished.  */
+  Lisp_Object result;
+
   /* If non-nil, this thread has been signaled.  */
   Lisp_Object error_symbol;
   Lisp_Object error_data;
diff --git a/test/src/thread-tests.el b/test/src/thread-tests.el
index a447fb3914..ddf9e987cc 100644
--- a/test/src/thread-tests.el
+++ b/test/src/thread-tests.el
@@ -100,9 +100,9 @@ threads-test-thread1
    (progn
      (setq threads-test-global nil)
      (let ((thread (make-thread #'threads-test-thread1)))
-       (thread-join thread)
-       (and threads-test-global
-	    (not (thread-alive-p thread)))))))
+       (and (= (thread-join thread) 23)
+            (= threads-test-global 23)
+            (not (thread-alive-p thread)))))))
 
 (ert-deftest threads-join-self ()
   "Cannot `thread-join' the current thread."